Georgia Hosts First Joint Meeting With Five Central Asian Foreign Ministers

Georgia hosted the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian states in Batumi on 23 October for the first joint meeting of foreign ministers of Georgia and Central Asia, with transport links across the Caspian and the Black Sea at the top of the agenda. The six ministers discussed making effective use of the countries' logistics infrastructure, including seaports and railways, and visited the Batumi Sea Port, the government of Turkmenistan said in its account of the meeting. Six countries took part.

Georgia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili hosted Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, Georgia Today reported, citing the Georgian Foreign Ministry. The format combined a joint session with bilateral talks between Botchorishvili and each of her counterparts.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said participants stressed the role of Georgia and Central Asia in linking Europe and Asia, the development of the Middle Corridor and full use of its potential, and cooperation in the economy, trade, transport and tourism, Report.az reported. Participants said they valued the new format and were ready to keep cooperating. No agreements or joint documents were reported from the session.

Ports, railways and cables

Turkmenistan used the meeting to put forward specific proposals. According to its government, these include stronger engagement with the International Road Transport Union, the Organization for Cooperation between Railways and the International Maritime Organization, developing measures to carry the proposals out, using Georgia's capabilities and projects of strategic importance, and cooperation in telecommunications, including a fibre-optic cable along the Caspian to Black Sea corridor.

Kazakh coverage of the meeting centred on the competitiveness of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also called the Middle Corridor. The ministers discussed modernising transport infrastructure, digitalising freight transport and simplifying transit procedures, The Astana Times reported. The paper described the Batumi Sea Port as a Kazakh asset and a key link on the Middle Corridor.

Botchorishvili called the Middle Corridor a shared strategic interest. "This route connects Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Europe via the Black Sea," she said after the talks, according to a second Georgia Today report. She said building ties with Central Asian countries is a priority of Georgia's foreign policy. Georgia established a strategic partnership with Kazakhstan in June and with Uzbekistan in July, during the Uzbek president's state visit, and the Turkmen president also made a state visit in July. Georgia's prime minister made his first official visit to Kyrgyzstan in June, and meetings were also held in Tajikistan. Botchorishvili said the closer strategic ties reflect the needs of the current regional environment.

What it means for business

For freight forwarders, port operators and shippers, the meeting adds a political layer to the corridor's commercial agenda. Georgia's Black Sea ports sit on the route the ministers discussed, and the new format gives Tbilisi and the five Central Asian capitals a shared channel for the transit procedures, digitalisation and infrastructure questions that shape how fast cargo moves. The absence of signed documents means the practical test will come in the follow-up measures Turkmenistan has proposed and in bilateral deals.

The meeting follows the trade target Uzbekistan and Georgia reaffirmed earlier, which CBJ reported from Tsinandali, and the government's pledge to double rail and port capacity on the corridor.